Donegal's Michael Murphy intrigued by Klopp and Guardiola revolution

Donegal's Michael Murphy intrigued by Klopp and Guardiola revolution

Under a new management team as Declan Bonner takes charge, the Ulster county's fortunes will be intriguing for the neutral.

And at the heart of it as always will be captain Michael Murphy and he joined Ger for a chat about the year to come and his own situation.

Almost six years on from winning their second All Ireland, are Donegal still in transition?

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"Transition is a word where you're going to say to yourself that it's going to take a couple of years and you're not going to go and try and win anything. I think that's false," he said.

"This year we're definitely going to try and win something. Last year, I told you the same thing too and it didn't materialise. The Ulster semi final defeat, it was heavy. It was tough to take against Tyrone. We went in prepared, we went in confident but the players did not perform at the level that we should have done. It's not taking anything away from Tyrone. They were the better team and they have been for the last couple of years against us."

Given the age profile of a squad with many promising youngsters and an older, experienced guard, building cohesion and trust is key, he added.

For a number of years, there was talk of a defensive tilt within Gaelic football but the shift towards a more attacking approach generally is intriguing Murphy.

"Obviously it was very defensive there for a number of years. It seems to have switched now," he said, adding that "things seemed to have gone more attacking".

"Teams are trying to kick the ball, teams are trying to attack from corner back positions, trying to attack from everywhere and they're brilliant to watch too and that's the thing that intrigues me about it.

"It intrigues me about all sports, about soccer at the moment. The revolution of Klopp and Guardiola with their high pressing and flooding wing backs forward. And that's the whole thing. Somebody's going to have to come up with something to counteract that now and that's what the challenge is all the time."

Murphy also discussed his first steps into the world of coaching.

Michael Murphy, Donegal’s most successful football captain and 2009 All Stars Young Footballer of the Year, launched the 2018 Sport Industry Awards in association with JLT Ireland today. The awards recognise and reward excellence in the business of sport, whilst simultaneously highlighting the contribution of sport to Ireland’s economy. The Irish sports tourism industry is valued between €350 & €800 million each year with the Irish sport sector supporting over 40,000 jobs. The Sport Industry Awards will be held at Dublin City Hall on 22nd February 2018 and the closing date for entries is Monday 5th February 2018.